geggytah

bump again...i think these points need to be addressed, or at least considered

i think you have trouble detecting a literary device known as sarcasm

bump

so izell should have stood there and let chambers catch the TD? not the greatest play, but giving up the TD would have been worst (especially since the D held up and force a FG). btw...i think izell knew the rule, he was face guarding chambers so that any back and forth moves he made could be seen rather than "felt".... moulds on the other hand, cost the team a timeout and a challenge. in a closely contested game, that may have been the difference if we ran out of time at the end of the half to kick a FG. DO WE HAVE COACHES IN THE BOOTH GIVING MM ADVICE ON CHALLENGES? if we do, WHERE WERE THEY ON THAT ONE?

first and foremost, we FINISHED the game out. miami had every right to think that with the ball at the 5 yard line with 6 minutes left in the game that they would be sitting pretty with some great field position when they get the ball back. instead, they don't touch the ball AT ALL. that, my friends, is how good teams win games. no luck involved there...smart play calling, great execution, and an attitude that they imposed on miami that "we are WINNING this game no matter what you do." i want to point to a few issues, both positive and negative that helped us win and/or could have cost us. 1) on the INT thrown by drew that was negated by defesive holding, lee evans made a route running mistake. mistakes like that CANNOT happen on a good football team. in the past, the offense walks off the field with their tail between their legs. the receiver runs to the sideline and hides. NOT today...drew immediately ran to lee and chewed him out. this sets the tone on the team that EVERY ONE is accountable on EVERY play. one person making a mistake scews up a play for the entire team. drew set the tone today and made sure that the losing culture that has developed on this team is (at least for today) NO MORE. 2) early in the game on a 3 and 15 or so play there was a 5 yard pass thrown over the middle to chambers. fletcher attempted to break up the pass and was flagged for pass interference. WHY GO FOR A PASS BREAKUP THERE? if a chace for an INT is there then go for it, but to merely save 5 yards and risk a PI call is just plain dumb. being fundamentally sound, conceding a 5 yard gain, and tackling chambers as soon as he touches the ball (maybe forcing an incomlete any way) was the smart play there. 3) i have noticed in the past few weeks that the really good RBs in the league this year (holmes, LT, c. martin, etc...) are patient behind the line of scrimmage. they wait to see the right hole to take and then hit it. even without a dominating o line, there are holes to run through on each play, and a patient back gives the line a chance to make those holes. today validated that statement. willis and sammy both ran very well today against VERY good defenses. not surprisingly, each team's o line has been ridiculed. i'm not going to chalk this one up to luck, or the o lines playing better....with a less than stellar offensive line, patient RB's are a necessity. i love travis henry after all he has given and done for the bills, but its time to start thinking about featuring willis. 4) after willis got hit late out of bounds at the 2 yard line, we had a first and goal. i'm sorry, but that 2nd down PA pass was a little more than expected. at the 2 yard line with a first and goal, we need to run the ball 4 straight plays if necessary. and speaking of running on the goal line, i don't think we have had a RB since morris in his rookie year utilize the "over the top" move. i'd like to see willis use this (henry not so much because of his smallish hands). 5) our offense was very aggressive and creative with their play calling after halftime. with the talent we have on offense, there is no reason we can't be that aggressive every week. same with the defense. (was it me or was spikes all over the field covering passes today?...he must have had his hands on at least 5 or 6 of them) 6) we went deep once, and it was incomplete. we tried to several other times, but it just wasn't there. good play calling to at least attempt it, and even better decision making on drew's part not forcing it. keep up the deep play calling...the defense has to respect it. the last 2 games we went deep on the first play. watch for us to send moulds and evans deep on an early play in the future weeks, and have either cambell or reed run a deep post for a big gainer as the safeties double cover evans and moulds. 7) lastly, i was impressed with drew's play action fakes today. in the past i don't think i have ever been actually faked out when drew sticks his hand out to the RB and takes it back as fast as he can to attempt "play action." today, his acting on play action was superb...not as good as a manning or pennington, but certainly servicable. well done drew....now that i know you can do it, keep doing it. our schedule certainly is in our favor the rest of the way....play like we did today in the second half and we really do have a shot at 9 or 10 wins....10 might get us in the playoffs

Flutie went to the freaking PRO BOWL that year? he couldn't move the offense though????? the bills were 2nd in the league in attempts for rushing and 8th in total rushing yardage, but we couldn't run the ball??????? yeah i'll admit that having a great defense that got the offense the ball and made it possible to play a ball control/big play offenese was a key kog in the team's success....but come on, yardage is yardage. we weren't offensive juggernaugt's or anything, but the line was respectable....and a team strength (if only because we relied so heavily on it). in all these posts i am not saying anything about us having the equivalent of the kansas city o line of right now, but i am saying that our team in '99 AND for that matter, ANY team that has ever gotten to the playoffs, has had at least a top 16 line in the NFL. its not possible to win without a offensive and defensive line that can impose their will on another team. back to my original point about bledsoe being the cause of at least some of the woes...just check out some other NFL games and see how much time other QB's have to throw. my bet is you'll find its just about the same amount as drew has for us. the difference is that drew cannot manufacture plays, he can only make the ones that are there in front of him. could the line play better? yeah....but they could also play worse IMOP

last i knew...stats are a great assessment of ability. kinda like looking at win-loss record we have with DB as our QB or our passing yardage over the last 16 games to judge the ability of our QB to put stress on a defense. and yes i DID watch the games and i have also watched games of countless other teams. our offensive line is no worse than at least 16 other teams in the league. the difference is the QB behind center that cannot cope when the offensive line does not function PERFECTLY on every play.

ok...just looked up the stats: in 1999 we were 2nd in the league in rushing attempts (show our ability to effectively run the ball) and 8th in the league in total rushing yards. flutie passed for 3100 yards in 13 games. hmmm....i highly doubt that those stats could be put up with an "absolutely freaking horrible" offensive line. now, back to me winning this discussion.....

so you're saying that when we went 10-6 (10-3 with DF), and lost to tennesee in the playoffs, we had a bad offensive line? as i recall, we had a GREAT team that year and if not for the music city miracle many ppl (not just bills fans) were high on the bills getting the super bowl. and we did this with a bad o line? i don't think so. in fact i distinctly remember the line being referred to as a strength of the team. were there blue chip first rounders? nope....but we were a young line that developed into a solid cohesive and physically intimidating line. not the best in the league but we were better than average. ANY way, the point of all of this isn't to say that a change in QB will make our individual offensive line players better. my point is that defenses cannot attack the o line the same way with a mobile QB under center. add in that the fact that JP has a great arm, and we have the makings of an eagles-esque offense. how can you not see this? sure JP won't be as good as donovan, but with experience, why can't he be? he need the experience ASAP

i don't care who you are...that's funny

see i'm not so sure that they were bad with flutie under center....in fact i DEFINATELY recall game announcers referring to our line as young, improving, and being relied upon as a strength. i don't think they were THE team strength, but they were A strength. and i do agree there were times when the line made mistakes and flutie improvised to cover some of them up, but in general the line played better. perhaps it was an attitude they developed...i don't know. but they were better. one reason they may have been better is this...and i recall this after watching mcnabb today. in order to contain the running or rolling out of the QB, edge rushers have been containing running QB's instead of actually going after them. in essence, this takes the 2 DE's out of the play if the QB stays in the pocket. i like the odds of playing 9 on 9 rather than 11 on 11.

recall when RJ was starting and taking a sack every 6 pass attempts, the offensive line was much maligned for the poor pass protection. enter Flutie, and voila, our OL becomes much more than adequate...in fact i'd go as far as to say a team strength. now i don't want to spark a debate over DF and RJ, because this thread really has nothing to do with them other than for comparison's sake...but there is a point when a QB (RJ and now DB) gets that deer caught in the headlights look every time he drops back to pass. i'm not sure this "sickness" is curable. there has to be an aura of confidence and maybe a little cockiness from the QB position that says "I dare you to blitz cause i am gonna LIGHT YOU UP if you do." now i'm not saying Losman has THAT type of confidence, but he certainly has a lot of some kind of confidence. drew, on the other hand, can make all the throws IF the throws are there to make. he does not create throwing lanes nor does he dictate to defenses where he wants to go. JP Losman needs to lead this team ASAP. do i think he'll be succssful this year? no, probably not. but the sooner he gets his feet wet, the sooner he will be dictating to the defenses what they can and cannot do to him. look at the eagles right now. how do you stop that offense? you have to double TO every play. you have to account for lewis/smith at the TE spot. their 2 and 3 WR are fast and atheltic enough to make plays vs one on one coverage. westbrook may be the quickest back in the league. McNabb is the x-factor though. he will eat you alive from the pocket, on the rollout, OR running...AND he has a rediculous amount of confidence in every player on the field (including himself). we have players equal to or better than the philly skill postition players except for mcnabb. insert Losman...the sooner he gets on field experience, the sooner we have a mcnabb-esque QB. disclaimer: i know losman is not guarunteed to be a great or even solid QB year after year. i do know he has what DB doesn't...potential. we know drew is not the answer...we don't know what JP is/could be. after all that is said though, i hope drew proves me wrong in all of this and JP can sit back and learn.

the reason i like it is that the defense is spread out and it is EASIER to read where blitzes are coming from. the bad thing is that protection is even more of a question mark because of the lack of blockers to protect from blitzers. one more good thing...i'd like to see our 4th WR (shaw) match up against another teams 4th CB. that is a good matchup for us. i say try it...its not like a 2 back 1 TE set is working for us

nm

downloaded and actually impressed....no probs

2 syracuse players on the team!!! gotta believe mcnabb was a close miss too...so potentially 3 on the team.

or to take the heat off drew in case he stinks it up this year...i honestly don't hear any one of us calling for Travis Brown over bledsoe, but i could already hear whispers of calling for JP to start later in the season. now there is no controversy...way to go JP!!!